Finding Fate
by OceanOfHell
Summary: What happens if Terra had not joined them in the World of Ruin? Would her and Edgar still be able to develop a relationship?
1. Prologue ~ Beginnings (Terra)

****

Finding Fate

Author: OceanOfHell

Rating: R

Summary: What happened if Terra had not joined the party after the statues destroyed the world of balance? Would a relationship ever develop between her and her handsome prince? (most definitely a lemon, but not enough to make it rated NC-17).

r & r please

Prologue ~ Beginnings (Terra)

All she could remember was darkness. After the balance of the statues had been broken, the Returners were torn apart, along with their airship. Her body had washed up on the beach, she was barely alive, but yet she lived.

Duane and Katarin found her battered body. The couple had been trying to take care of a small band of children, but they were fighting a losing battle. One of the children came running over to Katarin crying about how she had discovered a sand monster. She and Duane rushed to Terra's side to find that it was human. The brown-haired man bent over to pick up the small body to take it back to Mobliz.

As they reached the town, they called off the dogs and hurried to their home. He placed her into a tub in the room that he shared with Katarin. Leaving Katarin to take care of Terra, he went back to the surface to retrieve water to clean her body.

He left the bucket outside of the room and tapped on the door to let Katarin know that he had water to clean her with. Her blue eyes were filled with fear as she quickly took the water back in the room and shut the door. Katarin had not yet removed the girl's clothes, but placed the water onto the fire to warm it. She took the clothes off the sand-encrusted girl and poured the warm water over her bruised body. Once her body was cleansed, it revealed that she had not sustained a lot of damage, just bruises all over her body. Wrapping her in some extra clothes that she had, Katarin gently picked up the small, frail body and carried it over to the bed. Making sure she was covered and warm, she returned to the tub and started washing the clothes, which had, amazingly, suffered no damage, other than being waterlogged.

For the next couple days, Duane and Katarin took turns keeping a vigil on the resting woman. Duane was resting with Katarin in his arms next to the fire when the sea green eyes opened up to the world for the first time in awhile. They blinked in confusion as she gently sat up in bed. Katarin, who had grown aware of the movement in the bed in front of them before Duane did, jumped up out of his arms and flew to the bed.

"Are you okay?" Katarin breathed.

Terra nodded. "I… I think."

Duane had forced himself off the floor and over to the bed. "We found you on the beach… well, actually, the children did. It looked like you took quite a beating."

Her eyes spread wide in recognition. "My friends! Edgar! The airship…" she trailed off.

Katarin sat on the bed and hugged the shaking woman. "It's okay, you're safe. I'm sorry, but you were the only person that we found."

"Terra," she stated flatly.

Duane and Katarin looked at her quizzically. "Who's Terra?"

"My name. M..me."

Katarin smiled, "I'm Katarin, and this is Duane."

Duane picked up the folded pile of clothes on the floor next to the bed and handed them to Terra. "Here, we kept these in case you wanted them. They're still in good condition."

Terra forced a smile and pulled the clothes out of his hands and held them to her protectively. Silently, Duane and Katarin stole out of the room so that Terra could dress in peace. She pulled on her shirt, pants and boots, almost expecting to pull a weapon off of the belt wrapped around her thin waist to go fighting again.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Weeks passed before Terra ever really got the hang of taking care of the children. They loved her, and she loved them in return. The little children knew that she would protect them from anything, she would give her life so that they would be safe.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Terra had grown to become the 'mother' of everybody who had survived the destruction. At night she would read to the children, and make sure they were all tucked in safely in the beds. She even grew to be a mentor of Duane and Katarin, they young couple did not know much about being in the real world, and Terra helped them cope with the children.

When she was alone, she would reflect on her past. When she was under the power of the slave crown, she was only able to remember her name. Now, horrible memories of what Kefka and Emperor Gestahl did came flushing back into her head. However the memories of her friends quickly overtook the pain she felt and she would silently become depressed because that was all that it was: memories.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The destruction of the world of balance had released a giant green creature named Phunbaba. The first time that he visited, Terra quickly destroyed him, sending him running away with his tail between his legs. However, never having seen this monster before, she did not know that a near-death experience for him increased his power and he would revisit the little town, each time a little stronger.

The next last time that he visited, Celes and Sabin had shown up on the doorstep hoping that Terra was willing to come with them and defeat Kefka once and for all. This time, Terra was bound and determined to destroy this annoying beast, but fate had it in for her this time. Phunbaba's last defeat had given him a new strength: he was able to protect himself from Terra's spells, which was all that she had. She was quickly crushed and her two friends came running to the rescue, sending Phunbaba running.

She was devastated by her loss and refused to join her friends in their battle claiming that she could not fight anymore.

*AN: That was a quick overview of what happened once the Airship had been destroyed, the next chapter is the same way, except for the other half of our couple: Edgar.

If you feel that it is necessary that you continue following this story, please, don't hesitate to e-mail me (my e-mail address is posted on my author page thingee) and tell me the title of the story and your e-mail address of choice, and I will be more than happy to e-mail you every time that I update.


	2. Prologue ~ Beginnings (Edgar)

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Finding Fate

Author: OceanOfHell

Rating: R

Summary: What happened if Terra had not joined the party after the statues destroyed the world of balance? Would a relationship ever develop between her and her handsome prince? (most definitely a lemon, but not enough to make it rated NC-17).

r & r please

Prologue ~ Beginnings (Edgar)

The airship had fallen apart, and all he could do was think about his friends. None of them had washed up with him near the city of Albrook, he was alone for the first time. A sailor had found him floating face-up near the docks and quickly pulled him onto land. The sailor and his friends took him to the inn, where they made sure he found medical attention, with the rest of the people who had been injured after the destruction. He suffered through a fever for a week before his temperature decreased and he was able to wake up. His clothes had been destroyed and he was supplied with some regular clothes: simple brown pants and a lighter brown shirt. He was completely satisfied for the time being to just stay in Albrook and make a living fishing and supplying food for the people who lived there and were unable to supply it for themselves. 

However, his inner workings would not allow him to do so. After staying in Albrook for a month since he had recovered, Edgar soon found himself to be restless. Instead of fishing, all he wanted to do was climb onto a boat and sail away on some other adventure. He had tried to leave before, but the monsters that inhabited the wilderness surrounding Albrook were too strong for him at the moment. So instead, he stayed close to Albrook and fought, building up his strength and fighting ability again.

Over a period of about four months, Edgar's strength (and purse) grew and he was finally able to leave the city of Albrook and head north. After many days of travel, he reached the desperate town of Tzen. He made sure that he checked the whole city to see if he could find any of his friends, but nobody was there (yet). He heard a rumor flittering through the tiny town that Figaro castle had survived the destruction, but was stuck somewhere underground. He stocked up on items and headed north. When he hit the coast, he figured that he would follow it and hopefully come to another city. West of Tzen, Edgar reached a split in his path, he could go right or left up a winding piece of land. Having nothing to lose, he flipped a coin, heads he would go left, tails he would go right. It landed on heads and so he turned up the left path, with a horrible feeling that he was leaving behind something to the right, but he had to find his way to Figaro.

Through desert and forest, by a circle of tall mountains, Edgar finally made his way to another city, the city of Nikeah. With the extra money that he amassed, Edgar baught some clothes that looked like his old ones. He managed his way to the tavern and sat there drinking and resting, waiting until he heard something about his missing city.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

After a month and a half of waiting, it finally happened. A band of robbers came into the tavern and occupied the table next to where Edgar was sitting and started whispering excitedly. However, they did not realize just how loud they were 'whispering' and Edgar heard the whole conversation about how they wanted to break into an underground path to enter a sunken Figaro and steal some great treasure in the buried castle.

Walking boldly up the group, Edgar addressed them. "You'll need somebody who knows about the castle."

The thieves eyed him warily.

"Yeah?" one replied. "What would you know about Figaro?"

Edgar snorted. "Unlike any of you, I have actually been through the whole castle and know how to navigate my way through it. Get me there and I'll get you your treasure."

Another thief stood up and argued, "How do we know that you're not really going to turn us in as soon as we break into the castle."

Without replying, Edgar reached to his side and pulled out his purse and threw each thief two gold coins which they slipped into their pockets greedily. "Is that good enough for you?"

The thieves introduced themselves clockwise around the table.

"My name is Gerad."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

They were just getting ready to leave when Edgar looked out the window of his inn room. News of two travelers had reached his ears, so he quickly died his hair, knowing that they were his friends. He did not want to blow his cover before he got to Figaro castle and freed it. He stood in the market buying some items before he would travel to South Figaro when they saw him. He hurried away before they could make too much of a scene and found his robber friends and headed towards the boat to reach his destination. They took him on a path through South Figaro and headed towards the cave that he knew all too well. This time, they jumped across the healing spring and went through an unknown part of the cave, collecting treasures as they went.

They finally reached the dungeons of the castle and he quickly led them through to the other side, where they would find the treasure of Figaro. He had other ideas in his head though, he was going to free his castle from whatever it was that got it stuck. When he came to the engine and saw the mess of tentacles, he knew he was going to need help, but his thief friends would not be much help. That was when Celes and Sabin showed up and helped him clear the engines of any yellow, wriggling mass.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

After Celes and Sabin joined Edgar, they finished the adventure in which they had started in the World of Balance. They traveled around the world finding all of their friends: Setzer, Cyan, Gau, Shadow, Relm, Strago, Locke, and Mog. They even had two new additions to their group: Gogo and Umaro. A few returned to Mobliz, but did not include Celes or Sabin, therefore they did not know that Terra was there. The town had been so ravaged by Phunbaba that Terra, Duane, Katarin and the children had gone into hiding inside the basement of one of the houses (y'know, the one where Katarin had hid when Duane started arguing that Terra wasn't going to leave). When the party of four Returners entered the town, a powerful Phunbaba quickly attacked them, but they defeated him for good and he would never return to the desolate city. The party searched around the city for survivors, but none were found so they left the city behind them and attacked Kefka with a vengeance.

After a long, challenging battle, the thirteen friends destroyed all three forms of Kefka and destroyed the statues along with him. Almost all the magic drained out of the whole world, except for Terra, who had been born with her powers, and Celes, who had been artificially infused with them as a child, but even then the magic was very weak.

*AN: There's an overview of what happened to Edgar and about 200 words about how they defeated Kefka… next up we'll actually begin the real story.

If you feel that it is necessary that you continue following this story, please, don't hesitate to e-mail me (my e-mail address is posted on my author page thingee) and tell me the title of the story and your e-mail address of choice, and I will be more than happy to e-mail you every time that I update.


	3. Ch. 1 ~ Life Anew

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Finding Fate

Author: OceanOfHell

Rating: R

Summary: What happened if Terra had not joined the party after the statues destroyed the world of balance? Would a relationship ever develop between her and her handsome prince? (most definitely a lemon, but not enough to make it rated NC-17).

r & r please

disclaimer: I do not own FF3 or anything of the sort, and I don't own the Dragonlance series (okay… so I have a hard time making up names of my own)

Chapter 1 ~ Life Anew

News of Kefka's defeat had reached everywhere in the world, except for the little city of Mobliz. Nobody traveled there, so no news reached there.

Katarin had already had her child, a healthy baby girl with a large set of lungs. Her and Duane were busy taking care of their own child, named Kitiara, to be able to watch out for the other children, so Terra had twice as many duties without them, but she took them without complaint.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

After she tucked the children into bed, Terra sat out by the water wondering about her friends. She knew that somebody had returned because Phunbaba had not been back to the little city in a long time. However she knew that she had missed them and that they probably would not come back. 

__

My own friends… gone and never coming back. She thought to herself. Her thoughts were quickly interrupted by a large sound headed towards Terra. She hurried inside and ushered the children, Duane, Katarin and their baby out of the house and away from danger. Just as she had gotten them out of the city, she returned to watch a giant monster destroy it. Anything that stood was leveled, it thrashed around the city taking Mobliz off the face of the earth once and for all.

She returned to the children heartbroken. How was she supposed to tell them that their precious sanctuary had just been destroyed?

Katarin, clutching a crying Kitiara to her chest hurried up to Terra. "What happened? What was all that noise?"

Duane came up behind her to join them.

Terra looked at her feet. "We are going to have to leave. Something just completely destroyed our home and there is nothing left for us to salvage."

Katarin gulped as she cradled the baby. "We should have known this was going to happen. I mean, a deserted town with nothing around it for miles is no place for a group of children to grow up. We should have gotten them back to civilization long ago."

Terra smiled weakly at the brave words. "Now's the chance. I still have a little bit of my magic and I can keep the monsters away and keep everybody strong. If we follow the coastline, we should be able to find a city. And then we can start a new life there."

"Mama! Mama!" a little blonde girl with pigtails cried as she ran up to Terra.

Terra bent over and scooped the little child into her arms. "Yes, dear?"

"The big noise scared me. Can we go home now?"

Terra choked on the words. "Go back to the other children and play." She set the little girl down. The girl turned to look at her with big eyes, but Terra motioned for her to go to the other children.

She turned to Duane and Katarin. "It's going to break my heart to tell them, but we must." The green-haired woman walked over to the group of children playing with rocks. "Gather around, children, mama has something important to tell you."

Instantly the children dropped their rocks and gathered around Terra. "You know how mama told you that she would always protect you?" All the children nodded their heads without speaking. "Now… imagine something bigger than Phunbaba. That mean creature has just destroyed our home and now it is time for us to move on. I know you may be scared, but that is what I am here for. I will protect you and all of you will be fine."

Most of the children started crying, all except for the oldest boy and the little blonde girl with the pigtails.

"It will be okay, I promise. We'll just find new homes for all of us."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

It was very hard on the children for the first week, but they got used to the marching and the quick rests and the sleeping under the stars instead of in their nice beds. Terra and Duane would carry one of the children for awhile and then switch to another child, so that they could keep up their energy. They followed along the coastline, which allowed them to have fresh water and to have fresh greens that only grew near the coast.

They had traveled for weeks without seeing a single sign of civilization. They finally reached a mountain range with a large, strange-looking tower encompassed by the mountains. With an uneasy feeling, Terra hurried the children passed the mountains and farther along down the coast.

A week later, Duane shouted out in glee. There in the distance was a city. With a burst of energy, the group quickened their pace and reached the city in no time. They had little money, and were hardly accepted anywhere in Nikeah. When Terra and the group entered the tavern, the man behind the bar instantly pitied the sorry group.

"Excuse me, sir." Terra asked him. "But is there any way we could find a place to stay?"

He smiled at the weary bunch, lifted the bar and motioned to them to go into the back where he soon joined them. "It's not a lot, but you can stay here. All I ask is that you work for me, just as a waitress. Not the children, just you," he said holding his hand out towards Terra.

She accepted his hand and told him that she would start the next day. He left to take care of his bar.

"Duane," Terra stated flatly. "Please, in the morning, start to look for a job so that we can have some money intake to feed the children."

He looked at Katarin who nodded her head. "I'll work extra hard to get a lot of money for us."

"Katarin, I want you to stay and watch the children."

The eldest boy spoke up, "Mama… I'm thirteen now, I'm sure I can be of some help somewhere."

She smiled at the boy. "Then you go with Duane to see if you can find some work."

It was late in the evening and everybody was tired, so they all lay down to sleep. Terra was the only one who could not sleep. _Tomorrow, my children. Tomorrow, we shall start our lives anew_. 

*AN: so Terra and co. have now reached Nikeah, what about Edgar? What will make him start on the quest to find Terra?

If you feel that it is necessary that you continue following this story, please, don't hesitate to e-mail me (my e-mail address is posted on my author page thingee) and tell me the title of the story and your e-mail address of choice, and I will be more than happy to e-mail you every time that I update.


	4. Ch. 2 ~ Remembering a Lost Girl

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Finding Fate

Author: OceanOfHell

Rating: R

Summary: What happened if Terra had not joined the party after the statues destroyed the world of balance? Would a relationship ever develop between her and her handsome prince? (most definitely a lemon, but not enough to make it rated NC-17).

r & r please

disclaimer: I do not own FF3 or anything of the sort

ON TO FIGARO!!!

Chapter 2 ~ Remembering a Lost Girl

Locke Cole, Celes Chere and Sabin Rene Figaro were in the library of Figaro castle talking.

"What's the problem with your brother? He's going to be celebrating his 32nd birthday and he has yet to find a suitable queen. Celes and I have been married for almost a year, and he's the romancer… he's the flirter… he's the f…" 

Celes cut off her husband. "That's enough, Locke. Edgar will get married when he's good and ready to."

The three were so absorbed in their conversation that they did not see Edgar enter the library.

Sabin shook his head. "Yeah, but he's got to realize just how much the people are looking up to him to get married. They don't want a bachelor king, they want something new to busy themselves over."

"And plus," Locke chimed in, "he's walking around moping, almost like he's in a daze. He needs a wife."

As Celes sighed at the two men, Edgar quietly left the library.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Edgar was pacing in his throne room. He could not believe what he had just heard them say. They were talking about him needing to marry. _I'm the king of Figaro, _I_ will choose to whom and when I shall marry, dammit!_

Pacing was not helping him at all. His anger was getting the better of him and he was prepared to go out and hurt his brother and Locke, but not Celes, oh no, not Celes, she was defending him. However, his fatigue got in the way. _Maybe Locke was right in which I'm walking around in a daze… I'm about ready to sleep on my feet._

The King left his throne room and avoided everybody else on his way down to his bedroom. He stripped out of his kingly garb, donned some nightclothes, and hopped into bed, hoping for a replenishing sleep.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

__

After talking to Locke, Edgar walks over to the green-haired woman standing there. "You mean THIS young woman?" He turns around to go back to the throne.

"Who do you think you are?"

He mentally slaps himself for his rudeness. "Oh…sorry! How rude of me to turn my back to a lady." He walks back over to her. "I am Edgar, King of Figaro."

Locke jumps into the conversation. "Surprised someone like me knows a king?"

Edgar turns to Locke and they have their own little private conversation before Locke turns to leave. "Talk to you later!"

The young King turns to follow his friend, only to stop and speak to Terra. "So… you're an Imperial soldier! No problem… Figaro and the Empire are allies! Please, relax while you're here. It's not in my blood to harm a lady."

He continues to leave when Terra's voice makes him halt.

"Look, why are you helping me? Is it because of my… abilities?"

He turns to face her. "I'll give you three reasons: First of all, your beauty has captivated me! Second… I'm dying to know if I'm your type… I guess your… abilities… would be a distant third." He returns to face the door to the throne room.

"What's wrong with you, anyway?"

He shakes his head. "Guess my technique's getting a bit rusty." He leaves.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The sun shone in through the window on a sleeping Edgar, who blinked his eyes as he woke up. Matron entered the room and announced that it was nine o'clock and it was time for him to get up. Reluctantly, he forced himself out of the welcoming bed and prepared himself to face his brother and his friends.

__

Today, I am going to make my decision. Hopefully, I can pick somebody who is worthy enough to be the Queen of Figaro. But who to choose. There are all the women who live here, but they're only power hungry… I need somebody who will care for me because I'm me, and not because I'm a King… who?

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

As he headed towards the throne room, Edgar tried hard to try and remember what he had dreamt about. No matter how hard he tried, he could not remember a single part of the dream.

When he reached the throne room he entered during one of Celes' and Locke's conversations.

Celes was trying to get Locke to stop talking about Edgar getting married.

"Locke… he'll be fine. Let him do this at his own pace, he knows what he's doing."

Locke refused to listen to his wife. "No. There's gotta be some girl around here that he could hook up with… after all, he's always flirting with every two-legged female around."

Celes' patience was at it's end, but she allowed her husband to try and convince her. "Really? Like who?"

"Well," he thought out loud, "there's always… Terra! Oh my God! Where's Terra?"

The blond-haired general's eyes grew wide. "How could I have forgotten! Sabin and I saw her at Mobliz, but she didn't want to come with us! How the hell did I forget her… this whole fight was based off of her."

Edgar gasped as he remembered his dream: it was Terra. The gasp carried through the door and Locke threw it open.

"Edgar! What a surprise!"

He gave Locke a puzzled look. "Why would it be a surprise that I'm about to enter my _own_ throne room?"

"Heh…" Locke mumbled, "I, uh… well… uh…"

"Because you were talking about forcing me to marry?"

"Yeah! Wait! No. Hey! You tricked me!"

Edgar smirked at his confused friend. "Well that's okay. I've decided that I'm going to marry. I'm going to search out Terra and I'm going to marry her." The King turned towards Celes, "Now where was it you said you saw her?"

*AN: well… that answered the previous question. But what happens when Edgar discovers that Terra is no longer at Mobliz… how is he going to find her now?

If you feel that it is necessary that you continue following this story, please, don't hesitate to e-mail me (my e-mail address is posted on my author page thingee) and tell me the title of the story and your e-mail address of choice, and I will be more than happy to e-mail you every time that I update.


End file.
